Graham, Laura
Email: Laura Graham
Research Topic
A Critical Exploration of the Role of the Human Rights Act in the Reform of Prostitution Law
This project will explore how the Human Rights Act could impact reform of the law relating to prostitution. In England and Wales, sex work has been regulated primarily as a social problem, situated within a public nuisance framework. While selling sex is not itself illegal, many of the surrounding activities, such as soliciting, kerb-crawling, etc. are criminalised. Over the past decade, the law relating to prostitution has been the subject of Government consultation and reform. Throughout this period, the Government rejected the option of legalising and regulating prostitution as work, opting instead, among other things, to create a new strict liability offence of paying for sexual services of a prostitute subject to force, threats or other types of coercion (Policing and Crime Act 2009, s.14). Despite the requirement for Parliament to declare any new piece of legislation as compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights before it can be passed into law (Human Rights Act 1998, s.19), there was no real investigation of the impact of these reforms on the Human Rights of the sex workers. This is particularly important when it is noted that many sex work campaigners and academics argue that the continued and increased criminal regulation of sex workers and their clients lead sex workers to become more vulnerable to exploitation and violence. This project will investigate how a human rights approach could be used to improve the situation for sex workers – with regards especially to improving working conditions, minimising violence and exploitation, and giving sex workers a clearer voice in the public arena.
The first part of this project will investigate whether sex work can ever be recognised and regulated as legitimate work, and if so, under what conditions. It will examine the ways in which prostitution can be considered to be like work – exploring the meaning of work, and various understandings of sex work as a type of work. Issues of thresholds of choice, working conditions, etc. are relevant to the discussion of legitimate labour. This part will also examine how a work framework might be beneficial for sex workers – factors may include improved working conditions, greater power in negotiations, access to labour rights such as the right to unionise, health and safety rights, equal treatment legislation, and minimum wages. Partly using a comparative investigation of the regulatory models in other jurisdictions – for example, the Netherlands, Germany, Victoria – I will explore the different possible ways of regulating sex work as well as the limits of a work model.
In the second part of the thesis, my focus will be on exploring whether a human rights approach could add to the work and labour rights framework. This will include a critique of the benefits of a human rights approach to sex work in the abstract – that is, looking at how rights can be employed to makes claims on the state, as a defence against undue interference by the state (this might be particularly pertinent when discussing removal of criminal sanctions or undue policing of sex work), and as a form of rhetoric to raise rights consciousness and challenge the stigma surrounding sex work. I will explore how human rights can speak to labour rights. This part of the thesis will draw on the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Human Rights Act to discuss how these particular instruments can be used in a way that could benefit sex workers – because of the obligation upon public bodies to act compatibly with the convention (Human Rights Act 1998, s.6), the impact may be broad and filter through to policing and service provision. However, this exploration will also be critical of human rights and seek to understand the limits of a human rights approach, both in general and specifically relating to the Human Rights Act and ECHR.
Professor Vanessa Munro and Mr Ralph Sandland
ESRC
Academic Qualification
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Awarding Institution
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LLB (First Class Honours) in Law
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University of Durham
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MA (with Distinction) Socio-Legal and Criminological Research
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University of Nottingham
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Laura was employed as a Research Assistant in the School of Law at the University of Reading from September 2007 to September 2008.
Conference Papers Given
“Developing Understanding Amongst Undergraduate Students: Feminist Workshops at the University of Nottingham” Feminism and Teaching Symposium, Nottingham. 8-9 April 2011 (presented with Nottingham Feminism and Teaching Network)
“Street Sex Work in the UK: A Human Rights Approach”Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, Brighton. 12-14 April 2011
“To What Extent Can a Human Rights Analysis Legitimate Sex Work in the UK?” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco. 2-5 June 2011
“Developing Critical Reflexivity: Feminism, Teaching and Research” workshop given at Researching Feminist Futures, Edinburgh. 2-3 September 2011 (presented with Nottingham Feminism and Teaching Network.
Publications
Other Information
Laura is a founding member of the Nottingham Feminism and Teaching Network. As part of this, she: co-organised the Feminism and Teaching Symposium, April 8th-9th 2011, a two-day interdisciplinary event for feminist activists, artist, teachers and academics to discuss the relationships between feminism and teaching; co-organised and presented a series of ‘Introduction to Feminism’ workshops held in the University of Nottingham (2009-2011); and ran a workshop at the University of Edinburgh’s Researching Feminist Futures Workshop.
Funding grants awarded:
October 2010, The University of Nottingham Graduate School, Researcher-led Bid, full funding for ‘Feminism and Teaching Symposium’ (group bid).
August 2010, Feminist and Women’s Studies Association Small Grant Award, funding for ‘Feminism and Teaching Symposium’ (group bid).
Future Plans
Laura plans to continue in academics after her PhD.